Obama agenda: The calculation

“In remaining aloof from the special deficit committee in Congress even as it collapsed on Monday, President Obama showed his calculation more clearly than ever before: Republicans will never agree to raise taxes on the wealthy to balance any spending cuts, so let the voters decide,” the New York Times writes.

“President Obama will head to New Hampshire to lobby for a payroll tax cut extension Tuesday — the same day his GOP rivals will be in Washington and less than 24 hours after the supercommittee announced its failure to reach a deal,” The Hill reports. “The White House brushed off suggestions the president’s trip to the Granite State, which holds the nation’s first presidential primary in seven weeks, was being made with an eye toward 2012.”

Reuters writes, “President Barack Obama will challenge the Congress to preserve an expiring payroll tax cut on Tuesday as he travels to New Hampshire to seize the initiative in the wake of a collapsed effort to reduce the nation's budget deficit.”